1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to insulating systems and in particular to insulating fluid lines in an aircraft. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for insulating hydraulic fluid in a fluid line within a fuel tank of an aircraft.
2. Background
Aircraft are complex structures containing many different systems. For example, an aircraft may include an airframe that provides support for various systems. These systems may include, for example, without limitation, a propulsion system, an electrical system, an environmental system, a hydraulic system, a fuel system, and other suitable types of systems. Further, many electrical lines and fluid lines for these and other systems are also present in an aircraft. For example, an aircraft may have several miles of electrical and fluid lines.
In one illustrative example, a fluid line for a hydraulic system may carry a hydraulic fluid. This fluid line may extend through the wing of an aircraft to provide hydraulic fluid to various components in the aircraft, such as control surfaces. For example, the hydraulic fluid may be used to operate control surfaces, such as flaps and ailerons, and other components, such as landing gear, as well as other suitable types of components.
Fluids carried by the different fluid lines in an aircraft may include fuel, hydraulic fluid, water, and other suitable fluids. These different types of fluids have different temperature ranges that are desired for operation. For example, operating different devices with hydraulic fluid in a hydraulic system may require the hydraulic fluid to flow through a fluid line in the hydraulic system with a desired level of pressure. If the temperature of the hydraulic fluid fails out of a desired range, then the hydraulic fluid may not flow through the fluid line with the desired level of pressure and/or the desired flow race.
Insulation systems may be added to the aircraft, to maintain a desired temperature range for different fluids flowing through fluid lines in the aircraft. The different types of insulation systems may be more complex, costly, or difficult to use than desired.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above as well as possibly other issues.